Daguerreotype of Henry Washington Comstock in case

This daguerreotype shows Henry Washington Comstock (b. 1832, d. 1914) around 1854. Comstock was a son of Buckley and Margaret Dixon Comstock, and was born in Worthington, Ohio. He married Mary Griswold, daughter of George and Mila Thompson Griswold, on June 12th, 1855. Mary died in 1866, and three years later Comstock married Julia LeMonde in 1869. Comstock lived in numerous states through adulthood, including Illinois, Wisconsin and Colorado. He was living in Denver when he died on September 5th, 1914.

According to the Library of Congress, a daguerreotype is an image on "a plate of copper, lightly coated with silver. After cleaning and polishing the plate, exposure to iodine vapors created a light-sensitive surface that looked like a mirror. The plate, held in a light proof holder, was then transferred to the camera and exposed to light. The plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared. To fix the image, the plate was immersed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate or salt and then toned with gold chloride." The thin brass binding, known as a "preserver," that holds the cover glass, the daguerreotype and the brass mat is common to the 1850’s.